Return of the Dragon God

Chapter 9: Information Leak

"Brother Lin Mo, you're truly amazing."

Li Mengxue smiled, revealing two cute dimples on her snow-like cheeks.

Lin Mo sat across from her, teasing, "Now, are you still worried that our family won't make it to the top fifty?"

"Hehe, not anymore. You are still my incredible Brother Lin Mo."

Li Mengxue sweetly replied.

After a joyful meal, Lin Mo took Li Mengxue for a stroll in the market square. Using the 'borrowed' two thousand gold coins, he bought two fifth-grade beast souls.

Upon returning to the Li family, they parted ways. Lin Mo greeted Aunt Nuo and headed back to his room.

After securing the doors and windows, he immediately summoned his Dragon Soul Martial Spirit and had it devour the two recently purchased beast souls.

After a while, four strands of white light radiated from the dragon's body, signaling that the martial spirit had reached the fourth rank of the human tier.

Lin Mo felt a bit disappointed that this time, with two fifth-grade beast souls, the martial spirit only advanced one rank. "It seems the martial spirit is of a higher level, requiring more beast souls," he sighed inwardly.

However, the upgrade revealed subtle changes in his body, making him feel physically more robust.

"Father said I have the Dragon's Body. Is this my destiny, to soar as a dragon in the heavens one day?"

"If I am a dragon, then Father must be too. Back then, he brought me here with severe injuries and eventually died due to a recurrence of those old wounds. What kind of existence could have wounded him?"

Thinking of Lin Xiaoran, Lin Mo took out the white dragon jade pendant. This pendant had awakened his Dragon Soul that day.

He tried dripping his own blood onto the pendant, but this time, it only emitted a faint white light with no substantial changes.

However, Lin Mo could vaguely sense an invisible film covering the white dragon on the jade pendant. As for how to open this film, he had no clue.

"Maybe it requires a higher cultivation level to unlock."

Putting away the pendant, Lin Mo began his cultivation. With his Dragon Soul Martial Spirit now at the fourth rank of the human tier, his cultivation speed increased several times.

Threads of golden dragon elemental energy were refined by the martial spirit, coursing through Lin Mo's meridians before returning to his dantian sea.

He practiced like this for three days.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

On the third day at noon, urgent knocking echoed through the room.

"Brother Lin Mo, please open the door quickly." Outside, Li Mengxue anxiously pleaded.

Lin Mo furrowed his brow and swiftly opened the door. "Mengxue, what's going on?"

"The incident where you fooled the city lord in the council hall has been leaked. The city lord found out, got extremely angry, and came to interrogate this morning. Although the family head protected you, the clan doesn't want to oppose the city lord's mansion. So, the marriage between Aunt Nuo and Wang Li has been confirmed."

"What?" Lin Mo's eyes flashed with anger. The city lord's mansion, backed by the vast Xuanli Dynasty, was undoubtedly the strongest force in Tianlan City. While they had previously proposed marriage, this time they were forcing it.

"I heard that Wang Li even threatened to teach you a lesson," Li Mengxue whispered.

"Hmph, teach me a lesson? I'll make them pay for it." Lin Mo's face darkened, clenching his fists as he coldly declared.

"Brother Lin Mo, please don't act recklessly." Li Mengxue anxiously warned.

Lin Mo nodded, "Rest assured, without sufficient strength, I won't act rashly."

Seeing him say this, Li Mengxue finally felt relieved, "Our family is not weak. If the family head takes a firm stand, we won't fear the city lord's mansion. But we need to give him enough reasons. If you can achieve first place in the clan competition and then bring up the annulment of the marriage, there might be a chance."

"Okay, got it. By the way, has the date for the arranged marriage been set?"

"Yes, one month from now. It coincides with the selection of disciples by the Qingxuan Sect and the Cangjian Sect in Tianlan City. After the city lord wants Wang Li to get married, he plans to leave for Cangjian Sect for cultivation," Li Mengxue explained.

"Alright, I understand." Lin Mo said.

After Li Mengxue left, Lin Mo began to pack his belongings. Faced with such pressure from the city lord's mansion, he had to quickly improve his strength.

To the north of Tianlan City, there was the Beiyoushan Mountain Range, home to countless demonic beasts. Lin Mo's goal was to go there, slay these beasts, and obtain their beast souls to enhance both his martial spirit and martial cultivation.

He knew that achieving first place in the clan competition in just half a month would be extremely challenging. Others had been cultivating for one or two years, with some outstanding individuals like Li Qinglan rumored to have reached the eighth stage of the Martial Path. In contrast, Lin Mo was only at the second stage, and despite his powerful dragon elemental energy, he was still no match for those at the seventh or eighth stage.

After comforting Aunt Nuo, Lin Mo armed himself with a long knife and set off for the Beiyoushan Mountain Range.

...

In a courtyard belonging to the Chen family.

Inside a fragrant room, a handsome young man sat on the bed, with a seductive woman on each side. His hands roamed freely, causing the women to blush and giggle.

This young man was Chen Ziyang.

"Young Master, Lin Mo has left the city," an guard rushed in, reporting.

Chen Ziyang's eyes coldened, asking, "Oh? Who was he with?"

"He was alone, heading towards the Beiyoushan Mountain Range."

Chen Ziyang grinned, "Immediately inform Captain Mo to come over. I have something important to discuss with him."

"Yes!" the guard acknowledged.

"Lin Mo... If you had stayed hidden in the Li family, I might not have been able to do anything to you.

But now... you're in for a rough time," Chen Ziyang declared with a fierce expression.

That day in the Listen-to-the-Rain Pavilion, Lin Mo not only humiliated him but also extorted two thousand gold coins.

This caused him to lose face and be scolded by his father upon returning home.

Thus, he harbored deep resentment and had been monitoring the Li family ever since.

Now that he finally caught Lin Mo leaving the city, it was an opportunity he wouldn't miss.

...

At the same time, in the Fang family, another of the three major families, a similar scene was unfolding.

Fang Qiong, humiliated by Lin Mo at the market square in the Li family, had lost face. Ridiculed by others in the Fang family, he was infuriated. This resentment was all directed towards Lin Mo.

Like Chen Ziyang, Fang Qiong had been searching for an opportunity to take revenge. Seeing Lin Mo leave the city, Fang Qiong saw a rare chance to settle the score.